Wall Street Giant BNY Mellon to Offer Asset and ETF Services to Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)

Grayscale Investments, the world's largest asset manager for digital currency, has joined hands with one of the oldest banks in the U.S, the bank of New York (BoNY) Mellon. As part of the partnership, BNY Mellon will provide multiple services to Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). 

BNY Mellon will also offer ETF services and later run the Bitcoin Trust when converted into an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). It will function as a transfer agency by taking over the fund's accounting and administration. 

According to an agreement, BNY Mellon is presumed to provide GBTC with fund accounting and administration, operative from October 1, 2021. 

On Tuesday, July 13, Grayscale Investments announced: "Through this agreement, BNY Mellon will provide Grayscale Bitcoin Trust with fund accounting and administration effective October 1, 2021. Additionally, it is anticipated that BNY Mellon will provide transfer agency and ETF services for the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust upon its conversion to an ETF."

The company affirms, "The agreement will offer Grayscale improved scalability, resiliency, and automation through BNY Mellon's market-leading platform."

Adding more to this, during a discussion, the CEO of Grayscale Investments, Michael Sonnenshein, said: "Engaging BNY Mellon is an important milestone as part of our commitment to converting Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an ETF. BNY Mellon has a long-standing reputation as a trusted provider and has established one of the first teams dedicated to servicing the growing digital currency asset class." 

BNY Mellon is the world's largest custodian bank and asset servicing company, with $2.2 trillion in assets under management and $41.7 trillion in assets under custody as of the second quarter of 2021

Roman Regelman, CEO of Asset Servicing and Head of Digital at BNY Mellon, said, "Providing essential fund administration services to the world's largest digital currency asset manager further validates that BNY Mellon stands squarely at the intersection of trust and innovation." 

Roman added: "It's another critical milestone in our rapidly growing digital asset capabilities and broader strategy of putting client choice at the center of everything we do."

Both Grayscale Investments and BNY Mellon are considered the world's largest and most reliable companies. The mutual partnership will be beneficial to both parties. A team effort between the two giants will result in more scalable operations, with more flexibility for long-term success. 

BNY Mellon’s expertise in offering digital asset and ETF service is not exclusive with Grayscale's GBTC. Two years back, BNY Mellon was designated to serve as a transfer agent and Bitwise Asset Management's proposed Bitcoin ETF administrator.

On the other hand, U.S. regulators have not yet approved Bitcoin ETF. There have been multiple delays by the U.S. regulators, whereas other countries like Canada and Brazil have taken the lead by already launching several BTC ETF products.